LES INSOLITES - LITERARY TRAVEL IN TANGIER, MOROCCO

Located in Tangiers, the white city, the interzone - the city that is so many things to many people - I visited the enigmatic 'Les Insolites' bookstore to learn more about Morocco's current daring and progressive literary scene.

I decided today was going to be a book day. Librairie Des Colonnes is still
open in Boulevard Pasteur; one of the most iconic bookshops in North Africa.
Visiting its shelves earlier this morning; reverently browsing its famed
authors and its Tangier connections, I was over looked by portraits of Mohamed Choukri
and other Moroccan writers. The legacy this shop has, both as a bookseller and
publishing house, is staggeringly dense. Francis Bacon had one of his first art
exhibits in this small space. Truman Capote, Jack Kerouac and a litany of other
outsider writers paid frequent visits. I harangued the gentleman at the counter
for some Driss Ben Hamed Charhadi in English. His novel, ‘A Life Full of Holes’,
recounting a harsh life amid the cultural collisions of Tangier in the early
1900s had me floored. After dutifully being doled out some recommendations I
left as another customer. Purchase of a classic and another Tangier curio
unveiled.

But to get my teeth into today’s literary scene; this was the bite I was after. Les Insolites sounded like it had something special. I find it just off Boulevard Pasteur, on Rue Khalid Ibn Oualid which dips slowly down toward the Medina. This is not your typical historic stuffy tome to literature.

Les Insolities - the insolent, the bold, the daring? The unusual. It is a bookshop with a difference and is a bold quest in literary and artistic progression for Tangier. The doors open into a bright airy space and I can see that the shop is sectioned into various focal points of activity. Freshly framed watercolours take up one section of wall between bookshelves. The artist has created a series of half obscured human motifs, light fragile body forms; Moroccan creativity lay bare in an expression of fresh colour and emotion. At the back, a man is busy sorting and arranging new book arrivals; specially selected titles for the more serious literary traveller. Bright photography pieces by a Delphine Melese are mounted on the other wall. The mix of street photography and landscapes can only be unique to Morocco’s other-worldly southern regions.

Stephanie Gaou and Cedric Abu Shala run Les Insolites. Customers speak with them while I browse authors on the shelves, many who are unknown to me.It isn’t long before I am speaking with Cedric about life in Tangier. “Here life is definitely different from Europe; a lot quieter. There is no pressure to go out or anything. Here you can learn to be comfortable with yourself.” He starts pulling out some titles for me while cradling their slumbering child in his other arm. Cedric is from Paris and has lived here with his partner Stephanie for three years."Here is Abdellah Taia, a gay man who has adapted to a writing career in Paris. Telling stories of homosexual awakening in Morocco through Arabic or Maghrabi is still taboo today. Taia is pushing the boundaries.Abdelhak Serhane's 'Les Enfants des Rues Etroits' – this is a scathing literary description on social issues and the human condition, specific to Morocco’s poor under the Hassan II regime. He is a renowned writer on a classic scale.Fouad Laroui's 'Du Bon Usage Des Djinns', he is an economist and a story teller of an immense talent. A coarse wit reflecting on religion, immigration and the human struggle in Morocco.Rita El Khayat is a towering Nobel Prize nominee from Rabat. She is a prolific and challenging writer, exploring female issues in Morocco and the representation of the woman in the Arab world."The list goes on and the books pile up on the table, as Cedric and I delve into other writers from varying realms; taking in the socio-political to the poetic.The freedom for some of the more daring Moroccan writers to express themselves today comes through the power of translation. Through literary expressions in French or Spanish, it seems the Moroccan censors aren't troubled too much. And the stories flow. Although access to such stories require readers having the education to read French or Spanish; not a typical possession in a country still plagued with illiteracy.Shortly after, I get a chance to speak with Stephanie, also from France, who has lived in Tangier for ten years. In a short time, she has built Les Insolites into a bookshop, art gallery and public space for literary discussions. This afternoon she is preparing for a book launch and signing which is taking place later."Les Insolites isn't just a bookseller selling copies of Bowles, Burroughs and Williams. Sure, we have the old Tangier literary bunch available, but we are more focused on the writers of today", says Stephanie."The writers emerging at this very exciting time in Morocco....we want them to be read and to be recognized for what they do. These important writings are the real barrier breakers in today’s literary climate.' she says, drawing her hand across the selection of novels laid out in front of me."We are trying to show that Moroccan and North African contemporary writers can evoke danger and extremely progressive ideas; even more so than their international contemporaries."This is a breath of fresh air to hear. The old scene of Tangier layered in nostalgia, although still intriguing to me, is truly well-fed. This selection of modern writers, and the high calibre of their artistry, now on the table in front of me is nothing short of overwhelming. I feel I must buy them all.